Tidbits, programs, events and much more for in-the-know residents of Saddleback Valley in south Orange County

Menu

Author Archives

Dog food alert: On September 25, OC Raw Dog of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, announced it is recalling its OC Raw Chicken, Fish and Produce Raw Frozen Canine Formulation because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

To learn which products are affected, please visit the following link:

Like this:

It’s called Royal Rasoi, Flavor of India, 24288 Swartz Dr., Lake Forest, CA 92630, Ph 949-454-9600.
It’s located off of El Toro Rd, the very first street north of the 5 in the shopping center with Big 5 Sporting Goods and Tommy’s Burger. If you’ve reached Muirlands, you’ve gone too far. The food is excellent, very reasonably priced, generous portions and best Naan I’ve ever had in my life! The ambiance is simple but lovely.

They also have a buffet 7days/week, 11am-3pm, $9.99. Haven’t tried it yet but I will next week. My very picky best friend, who is from India, gives it thumbs waaaay up. She heard about this place from other Indian friends who said it was excellent. If you’re worried about the food being too hot or spicey, just tell the server when you order your preference – they can prepare it so its not spicey and ‘hot’ at all or whatever your preference.

Share this:

Like this:

Less than a year after opening in Mission Viejo, Haggen, a grocery chain out of Washington, is closing its Mission Viejo store on Los Alisos along with 3 other Orange County locations in Tustin and Irvine. The chain has struggled to attract customers.

“Haggen’s goal going forward is to ensure a stable, healthy company that will benefit our customers, associates, vendors, creditors, stakeholders as well as the communities we serve,” Haggen CEO Pacific Southwest, Bill Shaner said in a written release. “By making the tough choice to close and sell some stores, we will be able to invest in stores that have the potential to thrive under the Haggen banner.”

It looks like the Haggen’s on Muirlands at La Paz has survived – so far.

Like this:

If I didn’t happen to be in the shopping center already for something else, I wouldn’t have gone in on the first day it opened knowing there would be a crowd – and there was. You could only walk a step or two when you’d find yourself trapped in a bottleneck. What made the overcrowding worse is a problem that won’t go away after the curiosity factor fades away — the aisles are very narrow for what we’re now used to in modern supermarkets. The store lighting was dim, and made to feel even darker by the dark brown paint used liberally on store signs hanging on the walls. It felt dismal and, frankly, depressing. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Before the grand opening yesterday, I heard several people voice what I had been thinking – how are they going to fit a Smart & Final Extra size store in what was considered a ‘small’ Ralph’s market. I don’t know what the planners were thinking. Narrow dark aisles, merchandise jammed packed everywhere, it felt a little too claustrophobic for my comfort.

I’m sticking with the El Toro Rd store in the Twin Peaks Shopping Center between Rockfield and Muirlands.

Like this:

Nextdoor allows neighborhoods to easily create private websites allowing communication among neighbors and make them stronger and safer. Nextdoor is strictly about connecting with the people who live around you. When you sign up, you must input your real name and address. And you must verify that you live in the neighborhood either via credit card confirmation or by having the company send you a postcard that you can then verify you received.

I belong to active Missionviejo.nextdoor.com, and use it often as a key resource and where I share neighborhood info of interest like a new supermarket opening, days La Paws dog park will be closed for re-sodding, and I’ve posted items for sale. Others have posted about missing pets so all could be on the look-out. One pet was found by a fellow NextDoor member due to the alert on the website.

Exchange information about crime and safety issues, and features a Urgent Alert, which makes it possible to blast out urgent information (emergency, crime, etc.) by text message as well as email.

Find neighbors in the directory.

View a neighborhood map.

Ask for advice.

You have the ability to create public or private groups (sub-groups) within the neighborhood, or to communicate with people who live near you but outside the neighborhood through the Nearby Neighborhoods feature. On Missionviejo.nextdoor.com, sub-groups have been created for Palmia, Crucero Park, Lake Mission Viejo, Arroyo Vista/Arroyo Oaks, Pinecrest/Mission Viejo. To access any of them, from Missionviejo.nextdoor.com, you simply click on the community of interest and request to Join.

Residents can choose to view and respond to updates via email or directly on the website.